The Rivers at Maryland Farms

I can not in good conscience recommend The Rivers. My mother has been a resident in the Memory Care unit there for over a year and a half. In that time, there have been five Executive Directors and a nearly complete turnover in direct care staff. While the care staff genuinely do seem to care about my mom, there is a frequent lack of resident supervision; I have found my mother in other residents rooms on several occasions, many of her possessions have gone missing - whether lost by her or "gathered" by other residents who truly don't know better. And my biggest frustration is that the management simply cannot figure out a way that I can call the facility and get my mother on the phone - whether the direct line goes unanswered or is assigned to someone not on the memory care unit, or I'm asked to call back or that my call simply does not get returned, time and again. If I did not think it would further damage my mother's already frail sense of reality and greatly disrupt the small sense of stability that she does have, I would have moved her to another facility months ago. I do not understand the difficulty of solving these problems and while the various Executive Directors have been receptive to my feedback and accepted responsibility and assured me that change is underway, I simply have not seen any substantive changes. On a positive note, the facility is updated and generally clean, the rates are on par with the area and they have do have enrichment programs for memory care residents to engage with. I wish I could be more positive, but I've lost confidence in this facility and by proxy and Bickford facility.

We are happy with our choice, but we made our decision based in part on the fact that the facility was family owned. Shortly after we moved in, they were sold to a corporation. It has made some changes in both the cost and care protocols. I would encourage people to ask about staff/patient ratios, how often and the range of average cost increases and after hour contact procedures. I would also suggest getting a list of contacts and truly understanding how their family member will be (or not) included in activities especially in memory care. I would also encourage anyone looking for care to join a support group especially if one is offered at their intended location.